


We are art in its purest form

by scalira



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff without Plot, M/M, simon takes raphael to look at some art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 20:13:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7004761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalira/pseuds/scalira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon wants to show Raphael the world is worth being explored.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We are art in its purest form

**Author's Note:**

> A birthday present for @raphelsantiago on Tumblr. Happy birthday, Brie!

Look, it’s not like Raphael isn’t _aware_ of everything around him. He knows things kept moving after he Turned. The world kept spinning and people kept aging and things kept happening and everything kept changing. He’s _aware_ of that matter. He just chooses to mostly ignore it. After all, why should he care? Decades feel like minutes to him. Why should he bother trying to get out in the world when everything is just so temporary and fleeting?

Most vampires in his clan agree. Sure, they go out to clubs, but that’s mostly to forget the never ending cycle of destruction and rebuilding some of them have seen so many times before. They stopped caring about the world around them long ago. It’s better not to love when you can lose so easily. It’s better to be surrounded by the immortal, the damned, those who will stand by your side at the world’s end, than to be reminded of how _mortal_ everything else is.

But of course this way of thinking hasn’t reached Simon yet.

Raphael doesn’t want him to ever lose his joie de vivre, this bubbly happiness he expresses every time they do anything together. He still gets excited over things. Raphael doesn’t want their world to corrupt him.

Raphael hasn’t really involved in the Mundane world since he got Turned decades ago, and yet when Simon asks him – well, _begs_ him – to come with him, Raphael finds himself not being able to refuse.

All the fledgling has to do is bat his eyelashes or touch his arm or give him a small, intimate smile and Raphael would pluck the stars out of the skies for him. Of course he would never _admit_ that, but that doesn’t make it less true.

He doesn’t even bother asking where they’re going. It’s not like he really cares anyway – he probably won’t even be interested in the activity Simon planned out for them. But he had insisted for Raphael to come and had promised he wouldn’t regret it, so Raphael could at least give it a shot.

Simon holds his hand as they walk through Brooklyn. It’s not even something romantic, not like Raphael would want it to be. The other boy just seems to have a thing for hand holding; he unconsciously does it when he’s stressed, lacing their fingers together and only relaxing when Raphael gives him a reassuring squeeze. But he also does it when he’s excited or sleepy or feeling affectionate. Raphael thought it was weird at first, jerking back his hand when Simon used to reach for it, but now it just feels natural to have their hands dangle between them, to feel the weight of Simon’s hand in his.

Simon talks a lot during their trip through the city. It’s another one of the things Raphael used to find annoying about him. Constantly talking, constantly rambling, making references he didn’t understand and asking questions only to answer them himself only seconds later. But, much like the hand holding, he has learned to love Simon’s rants. He even finds himself missing them when they finally part at the end of the night and Raphael has to sleep alone, separated from Simon by only a thin wall and a lot of unspoken words he wishes he could express.

As usual, Raphael kinda zones out as Simon talks. It’s easy to let his mind wander to the sound of his voice. Simon’s voice is one of the only things that can make him relax completely. He can only allow his thoughts to drift freely when he has Simon’s voice as background noise. His mind takes him to dark places, places he doesn’t want to go, if he lets it move when Simon isn’t around.

Raphael only comes back to the situation when Simon comes to a halt and pulls at his arm to get Raphael to stand next to him.

“Tada!” He exclaims, making a wide gesture to the building they’re standing in front of.

“I don’t understand,” Raphael frowns confused. Simon rolls his eyes at him and walks into the building, pulling Raphael with him.

It’s an exhibition.

Raphael only has to take one glance at the paintings displayed to know who the exhibition is of.

“This is Oswald Archenbach,” Raphael breathes as he glances around. There aren’t many people around to witness the art, but Raphael doesn’t mind.

“How did you know he’s my favorite painter?”

Simon shrugs sheepishly.

“You mentioned him once. When you were showing me the art collection in the hotel.”

“That was months ago, Simon.”

Simon turns pink in the face – barely visible to ordinary Mundanes but bright and beautiful for Raphael.

“I – uh, yeah. I have a – ah, good memory,” he stutters smartly. Raphael snickers and squeezes Simon’s hand.

“Thank you,” he says sincerely. Simon shrugs it off and motions for Raphael to go take a closer look at the paintings.

They walk around the exhibition slow paced. Raphael takes his time to admire every painting up close, tries to memorize the brush strokes and colors the artist used to bring the landscapes to life. He knows Simon doesn’t care much for standing still for too long, but he follows Raphael and observes the paintings without complaining. He even looks – content. Every time Raphael glances at him, Simon offers him a bright smile that makes his gut twist in a way Raphael’s never felt before.

Raphael thinks he could spend hours here, switching from looking at the paintings to looking at the _other_ piece of art in this room, dressed in one of his own leather jackets and Star Wars shirt underneath, but he doesn’t want to put Simon through that. So when he’s as satisfied as he’s gonna get, he guides Simon back outside into the night.

“So, what did you think?” Simon asks excitedly.

“That was amazing,” Raphael smiles. He feels oddly… _alive_. When he’s with Simon like this, doing normal stuff like going to exhibitions instead of talking war strategy or alliances, when they can just be free for one night, he could almost pretend like his heart is still beating in his chest.

Simon beams at him, bright as the sun and twice as beautiful. Then he intertwines their fingers again to start the walk home.

“So, did this night feel fleeting to you?” Simon asks casually after a while.

Raphael raises an eyebrow in question.

“What do you mean?”

Simon looks at him, bites his lip before replying: “Lily told me how you feel about the world. How all of you feel. Like it’s just something temporary.”

“It is.”

“Yeah, but I mean. It’s temporary to Mundanes too. Life is temporary for everyone, Raphael, even if you live forever. The only way to make it worth it is by making something out of it. Time won’t feel like it all flows together if you have individual events standing out to give you a sense of orientation. Or do you think tonight will just get pulled into a big blob of meaningless events in your life?”

“No,” Raphael is quick to reply. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s that he’ll remember this boy remembering his favorite artist after only having mentioned him once and then bringing to an exhibition of him just to make him realize the world is worth to be explored.

“Good,” Simon nods.

“Then let’s do it more often. Let’s just – do Mundane stuff like going to midnight showings at the movies and going to the fair and watching fireworks on the fourth of July. Make time mean something.”

“Okay,” Raphael agrees. They’re standing still now, having let go off each other’s hands somewhere during their conversation.

“Okay,” Simon repeats. He makes a move to start walking again, but Raphael speaks up before he can.

“You know what would make this night even more memorable, though?” He asks.

When Simon shakes his head, Raphael cups the back of his neck, brings him close and whispers: “This.” Before placing a gentle kiss on Simon’s lips.

He wants to pull back after a moment, but Simon makes a soft noise and curls his fingers around the collar of Raphael’s jacket to reel him in again. Raphael gently pries open Simon’s lips and slips in his tongue, earning another soft noise when their tongues touch.

The kiss is gentle and sweet and absolutely worth remembering, though Raphael is sure this won’t be the last kiss shared between them.

When they finally pull back, not needing air but knowing they’re out on the streets and they can’t just kiss forever, Simon is blushing again.

And though Raphael has seen a lot of paintings tonight, the sight of a silenced Simon with parted lips and pink cheeks is the most beautiful art he’s ever seen.


End file.
